The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern {review and discussion}

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

The black sign, painted in white letters that hangs upon the gates, reads:

Opens at Nightfall

Closes at Dawn

As the sun disappears beyond the horizon, all over the tents small lights begin to flicker, as though the entirety of the circus is covered in particularly bright fireflies. When the tents are all aglow, sparkling against the night sky, the sign appears.

Le Cirque des Rêves

The Circus of Dreams.

Now the circus is open.

Now you may enter. (from the back of the book)

Melanie says: I first picked up the book while on vacation in Yellowstone, not because I wouldn’t be enjoying myself, but because I needed something for when the sun went down and my mind was still wide awake. I only mention this because I think it is a testament to the quality of the storytelling in the book. I found myself thinking about the book and sometimes hurrying back to the hotel to read while I was observing the awesomeness that is Yellowstone. The story moves a bit slow at times and the battle is much less epic than the back cover implies but the characters are relatable, despite their magical tendencies, and the plot is quite intriguing. I imagine the circus being something of a black and white Cirque du Soleil but where the action happens up close and personal - I found myself wanting to step into the pages and experience the circus myself. I also really liked the two converging story lines (but only after I realized the importance of reading the chapter description, which is not something I often do). 

Lisa says: I remember seeing this in my local store and thinking it looked intriguing, but instead of picking it up I just put it on a mental back burner. When Melanie suggested bringing back the book of the month (we’re bringing it back with a little less structure!) and it was fate that she mentioned this book! I really enjoyed this book! I agree with Melanie saying it is a bit slow at times. The circus set up reminds me of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (one of my favorite books). The Night Circus is definitely intriguing and felt very real! As I was reading I was like either the ending is going to be pants (check me and my British slang) or the author new what she was writing. Sometimes I feel authors have a good idea and then don’t/can’t follow through to the end. Erin Morgenstern knew what she wanted the story to be. I can’t wait to see what her next novel might be like! 

Janet says: I really enjoyed this book and found myself unable to put it down. Interestingly, I really likes Bailey's story line the best. As I read, I wanted to hear more about him! Of course I was very happy with the way his character ended up in the story. I felt a little disappointed in the climax. I think it lacked a little given the enormity of emphasis put on it.I loved what Marco and Celia made for each other, one of my favorite parts was when Celia experienced the ice tent. I felt like I was there and I wanted to explore more!Overall I recommend this book, I really enjoyed it!

And last but not least it looks like this book, yet again, is going to be turned into a movie. Yay. (note the sarcasm) 

Update Jan 6 2013: Loraine @ What I Felt About.... shares her thoughts on The Night Circus here! 

Summer Reading!! #AugustBreak

Between the Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha van Leer {book review}

UK cover

I am on Twitter!!! (@unitedcakedom) I am stating that because that is how I learned about the existence of this book. I follow Jodi Picoult and she was re-tweeting peoples responses! 


I picked up a copy at my local grocery store, in hard back! It is rare for me to buy a hardback. I love books, but I have to really want it not to wait until it comes out in paperback. 


Just a flip through the book it had my attention. There are pictures! Well drawn pictures! 


I like the idea of the characters of books having their own world (between the lines) after the book closes. The story was handled very well, for such a complex story line. There are so many questions to be asked about the world in the book and I think most of them are answered! What happens when a character in a book wants more? 


I enjoyed reading this book it's labeled as young adult, but I think today there are so many books that sit on the borderline of young adult and adult. I am nearly 30 and I enjoyed it and I think a young person the age of  10 or so would enjoy it as well. 


It was an entertaining light read that I would suggest to anyone who loves fairy tales! 

I have a couple of niggles; I wanted a few more examples of why Delilah and Oliver liked each other. It felt a bit forced, it's one of my gripes about fairy tales in general. Tangled: Rapunzel was locked in a tour for 16 years! Yet she marries the first guy she meets! I know at the end there is the disclaimer when Eugene says "after years and years of asking I finally said yes" so it implies that she didn't marry him the second she got home. But still! Anyway off track again........ where was I? 


My other niggle was after all this build up (not going to spoil it) it just ends. I guess that is a sign of a good story that I didn't want it to end, but I was physically looking for more pages thinking "is that it?" Maybe there is a sequel? I've never know Jodi Picoult to do a sequel, but there is a first for everything! 


To find out more about what this book is about click here! 
~LiSa

Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy {RIP} #AugustBreak

The Parasol Protectorate #AugustBreak

Happy Birthday Harry Potter!!!

My sisters and I (us three) love Harry Potter. It’s not a secret!

If Harry were a real person he’d be 32 today. 

He was born in 1980.

He’s older then me! He also shares his birthday with his creator: JK Rowling (not the same year, just the day and month!)

Happy Birthday! :0)

Think I might re-read Goblet of Fire as it reminds me of the Olympics.

Anyone want to re-read or first time read along?

Shades of Grey by E L James {book review}

Okay so if you haven't heard of this book you are living under a rock! Most likely not only have you heard of it, but you've read it as well! What did you think?


I didn't like it. It's Twilight with out the supernatural and I didn't like Twilight. I tried re-reading Twilight last summer, in case I was missing something, but it was actually worse then I had remembered. Probably because when I read it the first time I hadn't read the 4th book Breaking Dawn. Which is listed in my top 5 worse books ever!!


I could rant about Twilight forever so I will stop myself. I don't know why I thought I'd like Fifty Shades of Grey, knowing that it was originally fanfiction for Twilight. Why did I bother?!? Well, I like to read what's "popular" just to see what the hype is about. I haven't been able to bring myself to buy book 2 & 3 to see if it gets any better.


I don't find anything offensive about it: sex is sex. It just wasn't written very well and the dialog was abysmal. Also Anastasia just finished 4 years of college and she didn't have a computer or an email address..... if it wasn't for the technology dating it as current I would have thought it was set in the 80's!


I'd like to hear others thoughts! Have an opinion leave a comment!!  


~LiSa

Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan {book review}

Were you a sherbet lemon or chocolate lime fan? Penny chews or hard boiled sweeties (you do get more for your money that way)? The jangle of your pocket money . . . the rustle of the pink and green striped paper bag . . . Rosie Hopkins thinks leaving her busy London life, and her boyfriend Gerard, to sort out her elderly Aunt Lilian's sweetshop in a small country village is going to be dull. Boy, is she wrong. Lilian Hopkins has spent her life running Lipton's sweetshop, through wartime and family feuds. As she struggles with the idea that it might finally be time to settle up, she also wrestles with the secret history hidden behind the jars of beautifully coloured sweets. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams - a novel - with recipes.

I loved Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan and picked this one up the day it came out. Another perfect summer read. It's easy going and a great story about making life changes. Although it's fiction I feel it shows that life can take some unexpected turns and we should just go with it! I am also excited because it has an advertisement for Christmas at the Cupcake Cafe! Already on my wish list!! ~LiSa

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

George R.R. Martin’s A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
Three great storylines weave through the books, charting the civil war for control of the Seven Kingdoms; the defence of the towering Wall of ice in the uttermost north against the unearthly threat of the Others; and across the Narrow Sea the rise to power of Daenerys Targaryen and the last live dragons in the world.

A GAME OF THRONES

A CLASH OF KINGS

A STORM OF SWORDS, 1: STEEL AND SNOW

A STORM OF SWORDS, 2: BLOOD AND GOLD

A FEAST FOR CROWS

I have read books 1, 2, and 3 pt.1, I am in the process of getting book 3 pt 2 and 4. I am trying not to rush to quickly through this series as book 5 was only just published. Who knows when book 6 will be out?
I love these books. They are a bit slow and tedious in parts, but I am glad I've stuck with them so far. The characters are lovable, even the un-lovable ones!! I found myself constantly thinking about what would happen next after I put the book(s) down for the night.
The chapters are written from the view point of alternating characters, my sister pointed out Jodi Piccoult does the same. I would find myself flipping forward to see what happened next to certain characters. However I don't recommend this as I spoiled a few things for myself!!


These are very popular at the moment due to being a HBO TV series, so I don't know what I can say about them that hasn't already been said except for this: if the opening chapter of A Game of Thrones doesn't grab your attention, then I wouldn't bother. Just put it down and read something else! ;0) 
~LiSa


note: after re-reading this it feels like I was all over the place, I am sorry. It's just hard to say in the written word what I want to say!

Update: I have finished book 4, I found it a bit of a struggle. It introduced too many new characters and even though I liked getting all the information in book 4 A Feast for Crows, I would have preferred reading about the characters I had come to love! 
I am totally enthralled in book 5!! Now that it's back to what feels familiar!!
 ~LiSa 24/07/2012 

Eesoo by Kathleen Boettcher: A Review and Comparison!!

Melanie reviewed this book a while back, but it took me a while to hunt a copy down. It’s out of print, published first in 1990. On the last page there is a form so you can be contacted when the next book was published. It’s ironic because no following book was ever published. Someone somewhere knows why, but we the masses will never know. In the front of the book the author claims there were to be 7 books to follow.


My theory is that she changed her name to Diana Gabaldon While reading this book I just couldn’t help but feel I had read it before. The main characters are so similar to Outlander (book 1) or Cross Stitch (in the UK) it was like dejuvu. If you remember I hated Outlander, which is one difference, I didn’t hate Eesoo.

Here are a few of the similarities: There will be spoilers!!

The heroine: Claire-Nurse; Angela-Doctor (she only got interesting in the last few pages); Both-Spunky character who is a boring marriage. Is forced to marry an exciting adventurous type. Both females drove me crazy with they way they conducted themselves. The hero: Jamie-beat/raped; T’hur-beat/raped, which means they both have reasons for being guarded moody men who need to learn how to love/trust and be loved/trusted in return--by someone who can not only fix them, but understand them. Both are some form of royalty one is to rule the other a duke or something.
As for the story one is about space travel the other time travel, but it gives each story a fantastical feel. And both are slightly overly long. The main characters where one dimensional, but that is common in most romance novels/stories. Romeo and Juliet, Twilight etc… Yay I did it I just put Shakesphere and Meyers in the same sentence. If your main characters are plain they don’t alienate the reader. The reader needs to be able to insert themselves or relate to the main characters.

Going back to Romeo and Juliet it was the secondary characters that really made the story and that’s how I feel about Eesoo. Outlander was horrendous with silly things happening and on more then one occasion things that happened were unbelievable and the secondary characters were nonexistence. Eesoo has some amazing loveable secondary characters!!
Eesoo gives you exactly what it promises to give! Romance, adventure, and mystery! Even though my guesses were right in the end, I wasn’t 100% sure. Which is what I think makes a good story! It also made me laugh out loud sometimes. That's hard to do in a book I think. The writing was very witty! If you ever come across a copy of Eesoo I suggest you grab it up!!

It’s sad that the other books were never written/published. Yet, I hate sagas and series because it usually drags on too long. They ruin a good book. The other thing I like about this book is the name, Eesoo is a creature that looks loveable, but when pissed off becomes a scary monster. The lesson nothing is what it appears to be. That’s what this book is, it isn’t what it appears to be! Love it!!

~LiSa
note: all books were purchased by me and they are my own opinions and views and thoughts! If you disagree or agree with anything I've said please leave a comment I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

West End Girls by Jenny Colgan {book review}

from the back cover: The streets of London are paved with gold . . . allegedly. They may be twin sisters, but Lizzie and Penny Berry are complete opposites - Penny is blond thin and outrageous; Lizzie quiet, thoughtful and, well, definitely not thin. The one trait they do share is a desire to DO something with their lives, and as far as they're concerned, the place to get noticed is London. Out of the blue they discover they have a grandmother living in Chelsea - and when she has to go into hospital, they find themselves flat-sitting on the King's Road. But, as they discover, it's not as easy to become It Girls as they'd imagined, and west end boys aren't at all like Hugh Grant . . .

I first read Jenny Colgan when I bought a magazine that came with a free copy of one of her books. I can't remember the title and it's okay because it was a typical chic lit story about a girl finding her true love in the most unlikely of places. Then I read Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe and loved it. So, when I picked this one up I had a 50/50 chance of liking it. Now I will always give Jenny Colgan a chance because this was an entertaining read. With semi-predictable ending. I don't read chic lit if I was looking for a mystery, crime, or fantasy novel I read it to be entertained for a while and this book entertained me. Summer is months away, but a good summer read, something to take to the beach!
~LiSa

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin {book review}

The first book of Earthsea is a tale of wizards, dragons and terrifying shadows.

The island of Gont is a land famous for wizards. Of these, some say the greatest - and surely the greatest voyager - is the man called Sparrowhawk. As a reckless, awkward boy, he discovered the great power that was in him - with terrifying consequences. Tempted by pride to try spells beyond his means, Sparrowhawk lets loose an evil shadow-beast in his land. Only he can destroy it, and the quest leads him to the farthest corner of Earthsea.

I have owned this book for well over a year. The first time I tried to read it I couldn't. It is written so different from what I was used too I easily got confused and gave up after the first 3 chapters. However recently I've found myself with nothing to read. Searching the shelves at the local charity shops and grocery stores for something to grab my attention and nothing did. We are having the windows in the house re-placed which caused us to move everything around. Good for an early spring cleaning and for looking through ones books! This one was sitting in the pile of yet to read. Without thinking I started to read it, right in the middle of sorting and I was hooked. It's an enchanting coming of age story. People in other reviews are comparing it to the likes of Harry Potter and such, but it's way before Harry's time therefore it can't compare. A young boy discovers he has magical ability in a world where it is excepted, he goes off to school and learns the skills to be a wizard. While in school he does something foolish and after school the real life lessons are learned. I like it. I can't wait to read the other three. I have them all in one book.

I don't like series because I don't know if or when they will end and I don't have the time to commit or funds to a series. However a trilogy or saga is different. I know it's 3 or 4 books and expect it to have a beginning, middle, and end. Different then a series.

This reads like old school science fiction. If you like fantasy and sci-fi I would recommend it to you! I would also recommend it to you if you like coming of age and adventure stories!!
x LiSa

The Fat Chance Guide to Dieting by Claudia Pattison

Think nothing tastes as good as slim feels? You're obviously not eating the right food . . .
Holly, Naomi and Kate are determined to win the battle of the bulge. So it's down to the local slimming club, where carbs are strictly off the menu and there's no escaping the scales. But calorie-counting isn't the only thing on their minds.
Newly engaged Holly should be over the moon. So why does she blush every time her sexy boss walks into the room? Curvaceous Naomi finds herself the object of a very unusual fetish and a shocking secret is revealed when an unexpected visitor arrives on Kate's doorstep.
Yet with a little group support (and a particularly brutal weight loss boot camp) the women manage to stick to their regime, in time for the glamorous Slimmer of the Year Awards. But with tempting buffet tables, highly competitive contestants and even the odd fat fetishist lurking, it's anyone's guess as to what will happen . . .

Having recently joined a local slimming club I thought this would be a fun read, but it's nothing short of odd. The group leader is horrible and the lives of the 3 main characters are lacking to say the least! Another reviewer said that the book was about friendship and that it shined throughout the book. I didn't get that. The relationship between the girls hardly progressed from acquaintances. One of the girls actually gets held against her will and force fed by a guy who gets turned on by bigger girls stuffing their faces. Ah...okay? I would suggest you give this one a miss!!
Happy Reading in 2012! I hope to be around a bit more!! You can always find me at my other blog www.unitedcakedom.com where you can find reviews on all my baking books!!
~Lisa

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love - and its threatened loss - the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.

I think after it's third reading this surpasses Pride and Prejudice as my favorite Austen novel. In the past I would have listed them P&P first, Emma second, S&S third and the last 3 are just sorta bunched up together (I do like them, but not like I like these 3) but now I actually think Sense and Sensibility jumps to number 1. These characters feel real, they would have no problem stepping out of the book into the real world. They would fit right in. It's full of betrayal, love children, affairs, second marriages, etc.... It has everything that we love to gossip about now! I am writing as though everyone knows this story already. If you don't you

should!! It's very good!!

Chocolat by Joanne Harris A Book Review

Try me...Test me...Taste me.When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock – especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer’s wares as instruments of murder.Suddenly Vianne’s shop-cum-cafe means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne’s plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a ‘Church not Chocolate’ battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate éclair?For the first time here is a novel in which chocolate enjoys its true importance, emerging as a moral issue, as an agent of transformation – as well as a pleasure bordering on obsession. Rich, clever and mischievous, this is a triumphant read.

I have been wanting to read this for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. It's a quick easy summer read; full of magic and life lessons.

The mother and daughter come to a small town and open a chocolate store during Lent and the priest is not happy. One might want to say it was about good and evil, but really it's about the gray area between the two.

A very enjoyable read. I have seen parts of the movie so can't comment on a comparison. Although it has Johnny Depp in it so really it can't be too bad right?

Would recommend it!! If anyone else has read it I would love to hear your thoughts on it!! Please leave a comment!!!
~LiSa

White Cat by Holly Black

Cassel is cursed. Cursed by the memory of the fourteen year old girl he murdered. Life at school is a constant trial. Life at home even worse. No-one at home is ever going to forget that Cassel is a killer. No-one at home is ever going to forget that he isn't a magic worker. Cassel's family are one of the big five crime families in America. Ever since magic was prohibited in 1929 magic workers have been driven underground and into crime. And while people still need their touch, their curses, their magical killings, their transformations, times have been hard. His granddad has been driven to drink, his mother is in prison and his brothers detest him as the only one of their family who can't do magic. But there is a secret at the centre of Cassel's family and he's about to inherit it. It's terrifying and that's the truth. The White Cat is a stunning novel of a world changed by magic. In this world only 1% of the population can work magic but they have the power of nightmares.

Holly Black's White Cat was so different from anything I have read recently! I really enjoyed it, but... it's a series!! I have recently read a lot of firsts in series, mostly all young adult novels, and none of them I've wanted to read the second book let alone a third or fourth. This book is no exception. Where I am curious to what is in store for Cassel I'm not prepared to read a handful of more books to find out. If it turns out to be a trilogy then I'd be up for that. I don't regret reading it. I knew it was the first in a series and have only myself to blame for starting it. I also don't feel like I HAVE to read the following book, this was a good story on it's own. If your into young adult-alternative modern day-series then go get this book! Very different and lots of interesting twists and turns!!
~ LiSa

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

It is a summer's night in 1860. In an elegant detached Georgian house in the village of Road, Wiltshire, all is quiet. Behind shuttered windows the Kent family lies sound asleep. At some point after midnight a dog barks.The family wakes the next morning to a horrific discovery: an unimaginably gruesome murder has taken place in their home. The household reverberates with shock, not least because the guilty party is surely still among them. Jack Whicher of Scotland Yard, the most celebrated detective of his day, reaches Road Hill House a fortnight later. He faces an unenviable task: to solve a case in which the grieving family are the suspects. The murder provokes national hysteria. The thought of what might be festering behind the closed doors of respectable middle-class homes - scheming servants, rebellious children, insanity, jealousy, loneliness and loathing - arouses fear and a kind of excitement. But when Whicher reaches his shocking conclusion there is uproar and bewilderment.A true story that inspired a generation of writers such as Wilkie Collins, Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, this has all the hallmarks of the classic murder mystery - a body; a detective; a country house steeped in secrets. In The Suspicions of Mr Whicher Kate Summerscale untangles the facts behind this notorious case, bringing it back to vivid, extraordinary life.

I've read this for my book club at Waterstone's in Reading on Broad St for anyone who wants to come along it's at 7 after closing the last Thursday of ever month!
It's a very interesting read because it reads like fiction but is a very true account of what happened. The author did a great job and really making you feel as if you were there.
If you enjoy murder mysteries and true stories this is for you! Also have a look it was made into a TV series!
I was meant to discuss this with my fellow book clubers tonight, but due to my husbands work I was unable to attend the monthly meeting. Ah well next month.

summer read suggestion!

Ever dreamed of starting over? Issy Randall can bake. No, more than that - Issy can create stunning, mouth-wateringly divine cakes. After a childhood spent in her beloved Grampa Joe’s bakery she has undoubtedly inherited his talent. So when she’s made redundant from her safe but dull City job, Issy decides to seize the moment and open up her own café. It should be a piece of cake, right? Wrong. As her friends point out, she has trouble remembering where she left her house keys, let alone trying to run her own business. But Issy is determined. Armed with recipes posted to her from Grampa, and with her local bank manager fighting her corner, Issy attempts to prove everyone wrong. Following your dreams is never easy and this is no exception. Can Issy do it?

A chic-lit but entertaining! If your looking for a summer read I would suggest this one. It also has recipes for cupcakes and other baked goodies!

Toxic Childhood by Sue Palmer ~ A Book Review

Children throughout the developed world are suffering: instances of obesity, dyslexia, ADHD, bad behaviour and so on are all on the rise. And it's not simply that our willingness to diagnose has increased; there are very real and growing problems. Sue Palmer, a former head teacher and literacy expert, has researched a whole range of problem areas, from poor diet, lack of exercise and sleep deprivation to a range of modern difficulties that are having a major effect: television, computer games, mobile phones. This combination of factors, added to the increasingly busy and stressed life of parents, means that we are developing a toxic new generation. TOXIC CHILDHOOD illustrates the latest research from around the world and provides answers for worried parents as to how they can protect their families from the problems of the modern world and help ensure that their children emerge as healthy, intelligent and pleasant adults.

I've read this book in bits and pieces, but have read all of it. It is informative and shocking at times, but the parents who would benefit from this book the most are more likely not to read it. In another way the book doesn't say anything most of us don't already know. Surprisingly this book didn't make me feel like the worst parent in the world. It just made me more aware of some of the decisions I've made and will probably affect some of the decisions I've yet to make. If you read stuff like this on the Internet there is no need to buy this book. If your curious about how the modern world is affecting our children and want it in a clear manageable format go ahead and borrow this from the library.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami ~ A Book Recommendation

movie tie in cover

When he hears her favourite Beatles song, Toru Watanabe recalls his first love Naoko, the girlfriend of his best friend Kizuki. Immediately he is transported back almost twenty years to his student days in Tokyo, adrift in a world of uneasy friendships, casual sex, passion, loss and desire - to a time when an impetuous young woman called Midori marches into his life and he has to choose between the future and the past.

Loved this book!! Haruki Murakami is on my top 5 favorite authors at the moment!!

A story of love life and death. A lot of people thought it was semi auto biographical but Murakami denies it. It reads like real life so I can see why the masses would want to think it was the love story of his life.

It's a story of what a person would do for love.

A story of coping with the ups and downs of relationships.

 I'm not sure I want to see the movie that has recently been made.

I really did enjoy Kafka on the Shore and had no idea what was happening in After Dark, but this one was ... dare I say ... beautiful.

It's not usually a word I use to describe a book, but it's the only word that suits it in my opinion.

I give this book 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone and everyone!!

~LiSa